Ecology, The Environment and Conservation
This complex theme deals primarily with interactions between organisms and the environmental factors that impact them, but to a greater extent between individual inanimate environmental factors.
innovations-report offers informative reports and articles on topics such as climate protection, landscape conservation, ecological systems, wildlife and nature parks and ecosystem efficiency and balance.
Control of methane emissions would reduce both global warming and air pollution, researchers find
Both air pollution and global warming could be reduced by controlling emissions of methane gas, according to a new study by scientists at Harvard University, the Argonne National Laboratory, and the Environmental Protection Agency. The reason, they say, is that methane is directly linked to the production of ozone in the troposphere, the lowest part of Earth’s atmosphere, extending from the surface to around 12 kilometers [7 miles] altitude. Ozone is the primary constituent of smog and both meth
`Glowing` technique could detect river pollution
New technology used to analyse dissolved organic matter in river water could also help scientists detect and monitor pollution, according to a new research published in the journal Hydrological Processes.
Dissolved organic matter is found in all river water, and can come from both a natural source such as the soil, as well as human sources such as organic pollutants. It can produce natural fluorescence which can be seen using high-tech equipment.
Researchers from Newcastle Univers
One in Every Three Primates Now Threatened with Extinction
New Report on 25 Most Endangered Primates Documents Increased Pressures on Mankind’s Closest Living Relative
New evidence of the peril facing the world’s apes, monkeys, lemurs and other primates, with one in every three now endangered with extinction, is revealed in a new report – The World’s Top 25 Most Endangered Primates-2002 released today by Conservation International (CI) and the Primate Specialist Group of IUCN-The World Conservation Union. Primate species and su
BTB plant, pioneer in assessing construction and demolition waste
The plant Bizkaiko Txin-Txor Berziklategia (BTB), located in La Orkonera, Ortuella (Bizkaia, Basque Country) is the first plant of the Basque Autonomous Region dedicated to the assessment of waste derived from construction and demolition. Its set up, after an investment of 2,6 million euros, is going to prolong the average life of dumping sites.
The construction company Pavisa and the public corporation Garbiker, dependent on the Regional Council of Bizkaia, have designed the plant BTB for
Researchers create new strategy for removing arsenic from soil
University of Georgia scientist leads team
A team of researchers, led by a University of Georgia scientist, has developed the first transgenic system for removing arsenic from the soil by using genetically modified plants. The new system could have a major impact on arsenic pollution, which is a dramatic and growing threat to the environment and to human and animal health worldwide.
The scientists were able to insert two genes from the common bacterium Escherichia coli that allow
Clay Sprays May Control Harmful Algal Blooms
Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, can harm fish, birds and even people who are exposed to the toxic algae. HABs come in many forms, including a red tide that regularly affects Florida waters, a brown tide organism, and Pfiestera piscicida, an algae associated with fish kills. Scientists are unsure of exactly what causes the blooms, but a Woods Hole Sea Grant research team may have come up with a way to treat the increasingly common occurrences. Don Anderson and Mario Sengco are testing the use of clay t